Introduction

This handbook attempts to capture the diverse and unique compontents of comprehensive mental health programs in schools within our nation. The roots of these programs can be found in the writings of late 19th-century educators such as John Dewey (see Sarason, 1996). Support for comprehensive school mental health ebbed and flowed throughout the 20th century (Flaherty, Weist, & Warner, 1996; Sedlak, 1997). However, it was not until the 1990s that a national movement in the United States to advance mental health in schools gained recognition

This volume focuses on issues being confronted by school-based mental health programs, or those that are actually working within schools. These programs provide assessment, intervention, consultation, and/or prevention services directly in the school. They may be staffed entirely by school-employed staff(e.g., school psychologists, social workers, counselors), or may include staff from community agencies and programs (e.g., clinical, community, and counseling psychologists; clinical social workers; child and adolescent psychiartrists). A number of the chapters in the book will cite the term, “expanded school mental health,” referring to programs that represent partnerships between schools and community organisations to provide a full array of services to youth in special and in general education (Weist, 1997). These partnerships present many advantages for both systems, for example, increased support to education and increased ability to reach youth “where they are” for mental health